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Directionality of wire

I am a fan of Chris Sommovigo's Black Cat and Airwave interconnects. I hope he does not mind me quoting him or naming him on this subject, but Chris does not mark directionality of his IC's. I recently wrote him on the subject and he responded that absent shunting off to ground/dialectric designs, the idea of wire directionality is a complete myth. Same with resistors and fuses. My hunch is that 95% of IC "manufacturers", particularly the one man operations of under $500 IC's mark directionality because they think it lends the appearance of technical sophistication and legitimacy. But even among the "big boys", the myth gets thrown around like so much accepted common knowledge. Thoughts? Someone care to educate me on how a simple IC or PC or speaker cable or fuse without a special shunting scheme can possibly have directionality? It was this comment by Stephen Mejias (then of Audioquest and in the context of Herb Reichert's review of the AQ Niagra 1000) that prompts my question;

Thank you for the excellent question. AudioQuest provided an NRG-10 AC cable for the evaluation. Like all AudioQuest cables, our AC cables use solid conductors that are carefully controlled for low-noise directionality. We see this as a benefit for all applications -- one that becomes especially important when discussing our Niagara units. Because our AC cables use conductors that have been properly controlled for low-noise directionality, they complement the Niagara System’s patented Ground-Noise Dissipation Technology. Other AC cables would work, but may or may not allow the Niagara to reach its full potential. If you'd like more information on our use of directionality to minimize the harmful effects of high-frequency noise, please visit http://www.audioquest.com/directionality-its-all-about-noise/ or the Niagara 1000's owner's manual (available on our website).

Thanks again.

Stephen Mejias
AudioQuest


Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-15-audioquest-niagara-1000-hifiman-he1000-v2-p...


128x128fsonicsmith
ivan_nosnibor's avatar
ivan_nosnibor
1,047 posts
 
I do recall a Mapleshade digital IC I bought (very affordable) that came with instructions that warned of intermittent audio (dropouts!) if connected in the wrong direction. And sure enough it was true! Now That's a directionality effect Anyone could hear! 

Again, not that I could explain that one either.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Ivan, I don’t know which Alan Maher products are giving you conniptions but if they are crystal based devices then one thing you might try, since crystals should really be "reconditioned" periodically as they lose effectiveness over time and get all like gnarly. They could hurt the sound if placed in non-ideal locations. So, if there are crystals inside remove them and do any or all of the following: wash them for 2 minutes under cold tap water, Demagnetize them using any type of demagnetizer, roll them around and squeeze them in the palms of your hands for 2 minutes, expose them to direct bright sunlight for 2 hours. 🌞


geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 

georgehifi

1: Every component you have has been designed using measurements.

2: Any changes to the sound the designer needed to make was done using measurements then listened to.

3: There is no voodoo in designing equipment by any designer of any component you have in your system.

Cheers George

>>>>Well, yes and no. For example John Curl and Bob Crump had a process for amplifier and preamplifier development which was essentially John would design the circuits, the third individual Thompson did the topology, then, now get this, Bob Crump would try different brands of capacitors (that all had the same value and precision!) for example or volume control pots or whatever and pick the one that sounds best. So, obviously, it's not all about measurements. Not at all! Stop following the wrong sheep! 🐏 🐏 🐏 🐏 🚶


shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
@ivan_nosnibor

I don’t deny truth. However, before attaching strong beliefs to unsubstantiated claims I require something more solid than conjecture. This is why man-made global warming remains a remote and infinitesimally small possibility to me as nobody has successfully proven the main hypothesis is true in our atmosphere (which we know for certainty is influenced by other natural factors to a much larger degree than claims for man-made effects)

This is not paranoia it is actually just being reasonable and independent of thought rather than being a sheep and blindly believing everything one is told.
mitch2
3,691 posts
 
All of these arguments can be flipped around and applied to either side, sort of like a non-directional fuse 😎
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